𖤓☽ trystan

(some of this is compliant with a set of headcanons i posted on my side account, but i tried to write this in a way that it can be understood regardless. anyways, sorry if its a little confusing)

ruth and thatcher applied within the same batch of incoming mcpd officers . they both did well in training, but so did their peers , so there was no telling if their professional future together was set in stone . the thought was troubling to thatcher, who was freshly nineteen, an excellent shot, but soft spoken without ruth at his side . and if all those silent prayers that thatcher mumbled into his pillows at night failed him , he didnt know how long he could last as an officer . not without her . no amount of pressure from his military family could help it .

it was true : there was no future for ruth in mandela if this didnt work out . employment was down in this dying county and money was tight at the weaver household . it was mcpd or move out . for thatcher, it was the military .

ruth could see the anxiety eating away at him , even underneath that teenage baby face . they both knew it was the logical thing to do , but no matter how hard thatcher tried to contain his disappointment from ruth , she knew him too well .

and it wasnt like she wasnt worried about it too . maybe they could settle for a weekly call , but what if their schedules never line up and suddenly weekly calls turn monthly ? or more , until everything they had built together just… fizzled out ? ruth was not threatened by the idea , confident that she could survive this unavoidable aspect of adulthood , but it didnt make her feel any better .

one day , like usual , before thatchers parents came home from their respective jobs , thatcher hoisted his window up and snuck ruth into his room , 3 days before the results would come back saying that they both made it in . ruth knew thatcher had a liking for alternative styles , he seemed to always enviously adore her closet , but despite that , he was never allowed to wear anything beyond the essentials his parents bought him . so under sparse, golden sunlight, ruth would sit him down in a chair and gently tilt his head up before a sharp sting caused his eyes to flutter and water .

ruth had a few of them already : a little gold beauty on the right side of her nose and another below her bottom lip . but she thought silver would look handsome on him . his septum was immediately flipped , of course , mcpd made it clear on ruths first day that anything besides studded earrings were strictly unwelcome .

aww look at my beautiful daughter.